


With just a drop, my love spills

by charmlesstrans, Jimmybean



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Charles You Slut, Charles You Will Be Drunk, Erik Has Feelings, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, Erik is a Sweetheart, Gay Mutant Road Trip, Gay and Mutant in the 1960s, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 05:03:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10678248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmlesstrans/pseuds/charmlesstrans, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jimmybean/pseuds/Jimmybean
Summary: Charles decides drinking will be a fun activity that will give them a chance to celebrate- they just found Darwin, and they're happy. Charles also secretly thinks it might make some feelings come out. He just didn't expect that he'd be making the first move.





	With just a drop, my love spills

**Author's Note:**

> So this is un-beta'd. I hope it doesn't need much editing! I'll still probably be checking and double checking over it anyway because I'm so excited about it. My co-author is a lovely writer and I finally feel like I've written some good cherik.

Charles was thrilled, to put it simply. They had explained what their mission was to Darwin, and the young mutant had been on board. This had made him so happy in fact, that he was about to suggest a...well, not so much finding the mutants idea, it was more like a "let's have fun idea". The wild Oxford boy inside of him had been dying this whole time, no matter how serious Charles was about all of this.

  
“Erik, “ he said, having that very mischievous trademark Charles gleam in his eye. “We should go to the bar and have a couple drinks in victory. This is an exciting moment in our lives.”

 

And of course, he simply wanted to see what Erik was like when he unwind-ed and let loose, when he wasn’t so kept up by the strong control that the man was constantly keeping up, even struggling to keep it up. When Erik was tired, Charles could see those bits in him- how he was struggling not to let anyone see inside. Charles had seen his life story that night he rescued Erik from drowning, but he hadn’t truly filled his mind, he hadn’t touched every crevice and read every thought. He felt bad for wanting it from someone who was so clearly uncomfortable with it.

 

Maybe when Erik was drunk he’d express how he really felt to Charles. As if that didn’t sound like a totally creepy evil plan.

 

They posed the question to Darwin about going out for drinks. He seemed especially keen on the idea, which wasn’t much of a surprise since he had likely been working long hours driving the cab around all day. He was also a master navigator, and knew where all of the bests spots in the city were. He drove them to a small place nestled in the corner of a street cramped with hole in the wall type establishments and curious looking shops.

 

Charles insists on paying for everyone’s drinks, as many as they would like, being as it is such a celebration and all. Erik bristles just a bit at this, so unused to other people taking care of him even if it’s in small, unimportant ways such as this. He feels indebted somehow, as if every kind gesture expects something in return. There’s also that inescapable annoyance at how Charles can so easily spend money. Erik has never had that luxury, and though Charles means well (so well it honestly makes Erik ache with a curious burst of affection he doesn’t want to contemplate), all his life he’s been taken advantage of by people with more money than him, more power, more privilege.

 

“Another round.” Charles says cheekily to the bartender, and alright, maybe he’s flirting a bit. He can’t help himself, the man is quite frankly gorgeous and well...Erik’s a bit prickly tonight. He’s obviously not had enough to drink, which Charles will soon fix- with beer. The magical drink that fixes everything, or at least that’s what his mother used to think. _Sharon was good for something after all, helping to get my friend to loosen up._

 

“Here you go my friend.” He presented the drink at a...distracted, looking Erik. Deep in thought. It would be so tempting for Charles to just…. No, he mustn't. He sits in the chair across from the man who can manipulate practically the whole earth, and takes a sip of his drink.   
  
“Isn’t this fun, Erik? Drinking with friends. We’ve never done something so normal together. It’s all been shaw, find mutants, run run run. A bit of a break is splendid.” While Charles did understand Erik’s motives, he certainly didn’t think it was healthy for Erik to fixate on it the way he did. Which was what tonight was all about.

 

In truth, Erik _is_ thankful for a break. He would’ve never admitted that to himself a few months ago but that had been before, well...before Charles. Charles and his animated blue eyes, and passion for everything he did was such a complication. He was an endless puzzle that Erik couldn’t seem to crack, and Erik prided himself on his excellent problem solving skills. They were part of what had gotten him so close to Shaw in the first place, and now Charles was messing it all up, muddying the waters every time he smiled at Erik.

 

Erik clutches the glass of beer Charles had given him, taking a long swig and marvelling at what a good selection Charles had picked out. It was a proper German beer, none of that fucking disgraceful American brew.  

 

“Well I _can_ read your mind, you know,” Charles comments, smirking that impossible smile.

 

Erik huffs. “Incredible that I keep forgetting that,” he darts his eyes across the menu above the bar advertising their IPAs. He quietly slips up some smooth, steel shields across his mind, not wishing for Charles to gain access to how that damned smile makes his entire brain flood with warmth.

 

“But I didn’t have to read your mind to know that. What beer you wanted.” Charles murmured softly with a hint of a twinkle in his eyes, almost, may he remind you almost, blushing as he looked down into his own beer. It wasn’t terrible. He did miss getting beer at the pub near Oxford though. While he loved a lot of American things, the beer wasn’t one.

 

Drinking the beer quicker seemed to be the best bet and Charles soon found himself delightfully tipsy. “Dare me to drink a wizard’s staff, Erik?” He asked him teasingly, which is what he’d done the night he graduated. He was well known for his ability to do it in under a minute- something that had made him very popular in college, despite his remarkably perfect grades. Even if Erik said that no, he did not dare Charles to drink that wizard’s staff, he would do it anyway. After all, Charles felt a slight affectionate feeling coming from Erik’s brain- the man couldn’t tamp it all down- and Charles just hoped he wasn’t projecting his feelings instead, which is what he could be doing.   
  
God I’m hopeless, he thought as he promptly purchased the staff of beer. Maybe Erik would think his ability to down so much alcohol so quickly a second mutation.

 

Erik couldn’t help but laugh as Charles proclaimed to the bartender his grandiose plans, spinning tales at a bit too loud a volume about how popular he was in college for his drinking prowess. Frankly, Erik was just this side of embarrassed, as the other patrons of the bar began looking over curiously at the much too loud, approaching much too drunk, English man ordering a wizard’s staff.

 

Darwin was seated a few chairs down from Erik, making conversation with another man about his age. They were talking amongst themselves at first, but soon started laughing at Charles’ antics.

 

The bartender handed the drink over to Charles, and now the whole damned bar had their attention on Charles, standing tall and proud in front of the counter, gesticulating wildly and bragging about how he could down the whole thing in under a minute.

 

“It’s quite simple really, just tricking the mind into thinking it’s drinking less...well, that and the absence of a particularly responsive gag reflex.”

 

Erik blushed in spite of himself, taking a large swig of beer to avoid anyone seeing his face.

 

Charles picked the staff up and let out a happy noise. “As well as...relaxing the throat. Like doing something else i know.” He winked and then tipped the drink back, letting the beer pour right down his throat. And like he had proclaimed, it had only taken 45 seconds to down the entire thing of beer. He set the glass down, gasping a little as he was out of breath.

 

“See? It’s easy to do. Just takes some practice.” He felt like the room was spinning a little actually, and sat down into the chair that was provided behind him. Was that...Erik? He smiled up at the other mutant, his heart twinging in his chest.   
  
“Thank you, pretty eyes.” Wait that wasn’t his name. “I meant Erik. Slip of the tongue. Freudian slip. Wait I mean not exactly that. I’m not repressing anything.” He groaned a little in embarrassment at his words. A psychology degree and he got himself into this.  

Erik couldn’t help but laugh at Charles in spite of himself, and in spite of the fluttering in his chest that Charles’ words had produced. He felt his shielding technique slipping ever so slightly with the aid of the good beer and ever present Charles. _Pretty eyes_ . He felt the tips of his ears grow warm. If anyone had the pretty eyes it was certainly Charles. They were the clearest blue, big and unwavering from Erik’s gaze. It was difficult to do much of anything productive when Charles looked at him so earnestly. In truth, it should’ve been uncomfortable, too piercing, too _knowing._ Erik didn’t like people knowing him, but for some reason Charles made it so easy to be known.

 

“Excellent performance you gave there,” Erik heard himself say. The beer must really be getting to him. He signaled the bartender for another glass.

 

“Well, like I said, practice,” Charles slurs his words a bit, and props a hand up against his cheek, elbow on the wooden countertop likely stained with various untrustworthy substances. There’s a definite smirk in his eyes as he says it, floppy hair looking way too perfectly tousled and framing his face with an elegant yet messy charm that is _so Charles_.

 

And that’s just it, isn’t it? The fact that Erik is already aware of the types of behaviors and mannerisms that are “so Charles”. It should be troubling to him, it should be a warning sign to him. Hadn’t he been through similar circumstances before? Falling too fast for people in the most inappropriate and ridiculous situations. They were recruiting mutants for Christ’s sake, they were hunting Shaw for Christ’s sake.

 

Still, Charles was affectionately drunk, with a too fast tongue on him and idly wandering hands that seemed to have nowhere to sit comfortably. Erik’s own fingers twitched, the desperate desire to reach out and _touch._ He graciously accepted the new glass from the bartender that he had ordered, and took a long drink.

 

“Practice makes perfect.” Charles added onto what he said, still gazing up at Erik quite endearingly. He personally loved Erik’s eyes, they could be a steely blue gray to a light sea-green. They were gorgeous. He realized he was quite heavily leaking his emotion everywhere and blushed, trying to pull back his walls once more. “Sorry about that Erik. I’m...not as good at controlling myself when under the influence.”

 

Yet again, he ordered another drink, but he drunk this slower as he was quite intoxicated already. He drank it slowly, savoring the feeling of alcohol sliding down his throat and burning it slightly. “We should...probably be getting home soon. I mean to the hotel. It’s quite late.” He slurred, almost falling when his elbow slipped underneath him. He could feel mind’s approaching...with the intent of flirting with / **Erik/**. No, he thought to himself a bit angrily. They wouldn’t dare.

  
It seemed like those gaggle of minds certainly did intend to dare. Unless Charles did something quick. He leaned forward and grabbed the other man by his elbow, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his lips softly. He knew it was so so wrong, and that he shouldn’t be doing this in public and that they were going to get some angry reactions.

 

Erik jerked violently as Charles mouth touched his. He wished to reel back, pull away, in fact he knew he should. Surely someone was going to notice two men kissing out in the open like this, and make a scene. He sat frozen in his barstool, body and mind in too much of a state of shock to do anything at all.

 

He felt his shields rapidly deteriorating now, letting his previously contained thoughts spill out into the open, and likely spilling all over Charles’ mind as well. He shuddered out a shaky breath, and made himself pull away. He kept his eyes closed, stupidly too embarrassed to look at Charles after the onslaught of thoughts and emotions he had just unleashed.

 

“Charles,” Erik said as steadily as possible.

 

“Do go on, my friend. Those were some beautiful thoughts even if I am admittedly a little too drunk to appreciate them fully.”

 

And there was that goddamned smile again, mischievous and sloppy, spreading across that gorgeous face.

 

“What was that about gorgeous?” Charles grinned, leaning closer to Erik.

 

“Charles, _mein Gott_ , keep your voice down,” Erik blushed, trying desperately not to.

 

“Keep your thoughts down, then,” he quipped back, and were they actually doing this? This, flirty banter in the middle of a crowded bar. Erik shook his head in disbelief.

 

Charles realized quite then, that they still had people staring at them. “Maybe I should…” He gestured with his fingers towards his head, and fumbled to get those two fingers pressed to the side of his head. “Dear me….not quite working.” He chuckled a little breathlessly and then he felt his right hand’s two fingers connect with the side of his head.  
  
He felt the minds around him and almost got dizzy as he replaced the image of himself kissing Erik with a easier sight- instead it was them hugging, with charles crying into his shoulder. Simply a image in which a friend comforted his friend. Instead of gay passion. Which wasn’t a thing you did in the 1960’s. The thought made Charles quite sad but he couldn’t dwell on it right now.

 

“Now that that’s done, shall we be getting back to the hotel room?” He giggled yet again, leaning his head onto the other’s shoulder. “I might need your help getting out of here, I feel quite inebriated by what I’ve drank.”   


Erik was now blushing fiercely as Charles leaned on him, and they shuffled towards the door. Darwin was deep in conversation with the young man he had been talking to before, and Erik decided to leave on good hope that he would realize that logically he and Charles would’ve gone to the hotel, what with the state of Charles and all. Maybe he could have asked Charles to try and use his mind powers, but at the state of the telepath- well he’s quite concerned that perhaps Charles would accidentally hurt him. Best not.

 

The cab ride back was excruciating, as Charles had apparently decided it would be charming if he sat as close to Erik as possible and let his fingers trail slowly on top of Erik’s hand. Erik sat stiff in his seat, keeping a watchful eye on the driver, ready to clench onto the metal surrounding him and wield it as a weapon if he so much as looked back and scoffed at the two of them.

 

Truthfully, Erik was all too happy to feel Charles so close to him, pressed up practically from thigh to chest, and smelling of beer and lavender shampoo. _Of course it would be_ , Erik thought to himself. Because, really, his life was completely unfair.

 

Charles was pleasantly warm, all curled up next to Erik and projecting swirly, soft thoughts into Erik’s mind. Erik could feel himself mentally recoil out of hesitant fear, but Charles just smiled and sent a wave of calm across to Erik.

 

“Erik…” He whispered softly, warm emotion making his heart beat faster in his chest. “You know you can trust me, right? I’d never pry into your thoughts without explicit permission. I’d only touch your surface thoughts. The ones that...well… this is difficult to explain.” Charles murmured, giving Erik’s arm a warm squeeze. “And I really do care for you and if you don’t feel the same that’s fine...but I don’t want to hurt you or make you uncomfortable in any way.”   


His heart felt like it was racing faster by the second as he stared into Erik’s eyes, a soft and almost vulnerable expression crossing his face. Charles didn’t let his emotions out often, usually choosing to hide them behind flirtatious or teasing remarks. So when he did, it scared him greatly. Luckily, the alcohol was doing all his feeling and talking for him.

 

There was that ever present honesty in Charles eyes as he looked up at Erik, mind awash in content feeling. Erik was way too aware that they were cramped together in a cab with possible prying eyes in the front seat, but he couldn’t just sit and say nothing. He glanced at the cab driver again, and felt the quiet presence of Charles mind in his.

 

_Charles, you know I care about you. Didn’t you hear my thoughts back there? I was embarrassed to be quite honest._

 

Erik was tempted to laugh at how odd it felt to communicate with Charles inside their heads, but Charles blindingly wide grin was enough to make Erik want to say everything he possibly could, letting it all unravel itself in the confines of Charles’ brilliant brain.

 

“Oh right.” Charles replied and then chuckled a little, closing his eyes briefly. “I must really be drunk to forget that.” He added, but his voice was fond. His eyes opened once more and looked up at Erik, biting down on his bottom lip and making it even redder than normal.

 

_Erik, I think I may possibly be in deep love with you._

  
He didn’t regret admitting it, and instead shakily pressed his fingers to his head, allowing Erik to see the way he saw things- how he had thought Erik’s mind was so beautiful when they first met, how he cared for that tortured soul he barely knew. How when Erik smiled Charles thought there could be nothing more lovely, and when Erik gave him that intense stare- well it made him quite weak at the knees. He wanted Erik to know just how much he meant to the telepath- no holds barred.

 

Erik could hardly look at Charles, blushing maddeningly into his lap.

 

_You’re impossibly drunk, Charles._

 

Even as he said this though, he knew that barrage of feelings and imagery from Charles was not something he could send flippantly. There was a fondness there, but Erik wondered how much it had been amplified by alcohol and pure adrenaline. He flickered his eyes back up to Charles, and of course he still had that dopey grin on his face, tracing invisible lines up and down the bones of Erik’s fingers, cheeks bright red with inebriation.

 

The hotel was approaching up on the right side of the street, and Erik was thankful for it. In that moment he would give practically anything for a private space. He just wanted to _talk_ , away from new mutants he didn’t know yet and all the fucking humans.

 

Charles stumbled out of the cab door, and Erik dug money out of his own wallet to pay for the ride.

 

“Erik, love, please. Use my money,” Charles grumbled, attempting to reach into his back pocket for his own wallet and stumbling in the process, almost stepping on Erik’s feet.

 

Erik rolled his eyes, very much ignoring that Charles had just called him ‘love’, and how it made his chest constrict, and shoved a handful of his own money into the cabbie’s outstretched hand.

 

He and Charles clambered into the nearest elevator as soon as they entered the lobby.

 

“Cozy.” Charles suggests teasingly as they press the button for the third floor, leaning his head again on Erik’s shoulder. Here, felt safe yet it was still public. Oh how he wished he could walk with his darling man on the sidewalks and kiss him in front of everyone and just be so happy /being/ with him. He wished that he could show him off and that he wouldn’t have to hide that Erik was his. A bit premature wishing, as they didn’t even quite know what they were yet. Charles had just proclaimed his love- and Erik had said something close to it?   
  
_This mean’s we’re boyfriends now right? I’ll feel rather disgraced otherwise._

 

He sent the jest towards Erik, raising his eyebrows in a rather comical manner. How he did love being a tease. Hm, that could be written on his grave. “Charles Xavier. Professor and Professional at teasing.” He wasn’t quite aware he had said it aloud until he felt a funny look being directed at him- by none other than the land shark.

 

“It’s the alcohol. I’m a very chatty drunk. I’m also a very thoughtful drunk. Not in the way that I do nice deeds, but that I think. A lot.”

 

Erik laughed, watching Charles sag against him in his drunken state, clutching to Erik’s elbow with his hands, practically draping from Erik’s arm.

 

 _So very forward,_ Erik teased back, leaning in closer to Charles and letting his nose just barely grace the side of Charles’ face, drifting up to press a gentle kiss to his temple. Charles responded with a mental burst of gratitude, surprise, and affection. Erik pulled back, looking at Charles again, cataloguing the pattern of freckles across the bridge of his nose, the blush of his cheeks, the stark red of his lips, the shocking blue of his eyes. He reached up to brush back a piece of wayward hair from Charles’ brow, letting his thumb linger on Charles’ forehead, the rest of his fingers cupping around the back of his head, just holding him, grateful that he could.

 

“What are you staring at?” Charles grinned all too knowingly.

 

_How beautiful you are._

 

Charles blushed.

 

 _So very forward._ Charles used his own damn line on him, because of course he would.

 

“Insufferable,” Erik sighed, leaning down to finally close the gap between them for a kiss.

 

 _I….I think I love you too._ Erik projected, almost too scared to say it, but reaching a point where the influence of alcohol and Charles being an all consuming force was too much to ignore anymore.

 

Charles felt heat flow through him when Erik kissed him, both happiness and desire. He couldn’t believe he was actually kissing Erik, that his hopes and dreams had somehow come true.

 

 _I’ve waited so long for this...god Erik._   
  
His mental voice was shaky as he fisted his hands in Erik’s soft black turtleneck, pressing harder into the kiss. He felt as if he had nothing to hold onto but Erik, and yet Erik was more than enough. He was perfect. He challenged Charles to think and feel different, he gave Charles a new perspective and oh he was projecting all this yet again but he couldn’t help it. He was drunk and happy, soaring on the realization that this beautiful /man/ loved him back.

 

The elevator doors slid open and Charles pulled back from the kiss, his lips kiss swollen and definitely more red from usual. He was breathless as he took a step back.

 

_Erik, could you keep those doors open a second longer? I need a moment to recover._

 

Erik reached out with a flick of his power and the doors clattered back together with an abrupt screech of metal on metal, denting the doors in four places. Erik smirked.

 

Charles just laughed, and splayed out his palm against Erik’s shoulder. He looked breathless, cheeks a ruddy pink from more than just the alcohol. His eyes were bright, looking up at Erik with a tenderness Erik wasn’t used to. No one had ever truly looked at him like _that._ He’d had a few flings in his lifetime, multiple hookups from seedy spots around Europe while he was hunting Shaw, but never anyone he actually cared about. The hookups were honestly not even that good for him, and more often than not just people who had information for him, or who knew people who had information for him. They never overstayed their welcome, and sometimes didn’t even stay the night. That was just the culture of the world he had inhabited. Practically everyone was out using other people for their own gain, and you never knew if you were in bed with a possible assassin intent on killing you. Erik was never worried, of course, being that any weapon they pulled on him could be easily crushed to bits. It was just so different to be here, now, for all intents and purposes safe, and _with Charles_.

 

“Thank you for giving me that moment to compose myself.” Charles spoke softly, still staring tenderly into Erik’s eyes. “Now, you can open them and we can go to our room and...well, decide what we’re going to do about our mutual love, apparently.” There was that mischievous glint in his eyes once more, suggesting he wanted more- but only after they talked it out of course. And maybe when they weren’t so drunk that Charles could barely hold his own telepathy. Even though he knew he truly wanted Erik well….drunk sex was not the right way to go. For once. He’d done it wrong in the past, but Charles wanted to do everything /right/ with Erik. He wanted to see the man grow and develop into a happier and better version of himself, and if that just so happened to be helped by loving someone well...no worries.

 

They could get through Shaw and be happy together. He was certain of it.


End file.
